THE BEST
PARTS
Cade Creek
7
Coming July 23rd
Recovering from a car
accident in the sleepy little town of Cade Creek should have been a dream come
true, but for Noah Helmond, it has been nothing but a nightmare. Ostracized by
everyone for things he couldn’t prevent, Noah is trying his level best to make
amends. But even he has his limits and when the man he starts to fall for rips
the truth out of him, Noah has to decide if it’s worth the risk to stay and
fight for what they could have together or run.
Paul Rafferty loves being a
fire fighter. It fulfills his need to protect those that can’t protect
themselves. When he meets Noah and learns who the man is, he’s prepared to think
the worst. But there’s something compelling in Noah’s sad eyes that make Raff
think that there is more to the story than what he has been told. Getting Noah
to admit that might be the hardest battle he’s ever fought.
When trouble comes looking
for Noah, asking for help means revealing secrets Noah has kept hidden for
years, ones that will not only tear his family apart but have a significant
impact on more than one resident in Cade Creek, and that may be asking too
much.
STORY
EXCERPT
Paul Rafferty stood by the
door and watched the sandy blond haired man that sat in the corner talking
softly on the phone. He was trying to be professional and not drool, but damn,
the guy was simply gorgeous. Raff could eat him up.
The furtive glances the man
kept sending him made Raff wonder if the man might be interested in more than a
simple hello. He quickly looked at the man’s ring finger. No ring. Hopefully,
that meant no significant other as well.
Raff didn’t do married
man.
He watched the man hang up
the phone and hand it back to Elijah. The two men talked for a moment before
Elijah went running out the door. As close as he knew Elijah was to his
secretary, Raff had no doubt the man was on his way up to the
hospital.
When the man stood and
grabbed his backpack off the floor, Raff knew he couldn’t let him get away
without at least introducing himself. If he was lucky, maybe he could make a
date to meet the man for coffee later.
Raff glanced around to make
sure none of his fellow firemen were watching before approaching the gorgeous
man. He wasn’t ashamed of his desire to meet the stranger but he was technically
on the clock. Flirting while on duty was a big no-no.
“You did
good.”
The man’s jaw dropped for
the briefest moment as he looked up, and then snapped shut. His eyes rounded as
if he hadn’t expected anyone to talk to him. “Thank you,” he said in a rather
subdued voice. “I didn’t do all that much.”
“You probably saved her
life.” Raff grew curious when he heard the man’s soft inhale when Raff smiled.
“Where did you learn CPR?” Raff found himself riddled with curiosity when the
man’s face paled. What was that all about? “Are you okay?”
Maybe he was suffering from
an adrenaline crash?
“Here, why don’t you sit
down?” Before he fell down, because he looked like he was on the verge of
collapsing. Raff started to reach out and take the man’s arm to lead him to a
chair when he caught a flash of white and red. “You’re
bleeding.”
“Oh this?” The man held up
his hand, staring at it as if bleeding was an everyday occurrence for him. “I
was in a car crash a couple of weeks ago. I must have busted the stitches open
when I was giving Sandy CPR. It’s nothing.”
“Here, why don’t you sit
down and let me take a look at that.”
“It’s nothing,
really.”
“Sit,” Raff said in a stern
tone.
Surprisingly, the man sat.
Raff grabbed the medical
case and brought it over, setting it on the floor before reaching for the man’s
injured hand. “Tell me if this hurts,” he said as he began unwrapping the
bandage wrapped around the man’s hand. “I’m Raff.”
“Noah.”
Raff grinned again. “Hello,
Noah. It’s nice to meet you.”
The man blinked up at him.
“Hello.”
He grimaced as he finished
unwrapping the man’s injured hand. Noah’s fingers curled in toward his palm.
From the way they were twisted, Raff wondered just how much use the man had in
them. It didn’t look like much. There were also several small cuts sutured
together, some of them bleeding. Raff cleaned them up and the covered the
bleeding ones with butterfly bandages before re-wrapping the entire hand again.
“Are you new to Cade
Creek?” As much as Raff wanted to keep Noah distracted with the random
questions, he also wanted information. Like, did the man even like guys? From
the way he stared and the occasional flaring of his nostrils, Raff was pretty
sure he was on the right track.
“Um, sort of. I’m just here
taking a care of some business.” Noah breathed in deeply and then kind of folded
in on himself as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “I’m not
staying.”
Damn.
“That’s too bad. I was kind
of hoping we could have coffee.”
Noah’s jaw
dropped.
“Is that so strange?” Raff
asked. “You are a very attractive man.”
“Do you know who I am?” The
words were almost hissed out, the man’s blue eyes watering.
“You said your name is
Noah.” Raff wouldn’t have forgotten that.
Noah stood, grabbing his
backpack again before backing toward the door. Raff could tell he was going to
run. Whatever was bringing tears to the man’s eyes must be so big that it was
overwhelming everything else. Noah looked like he was about to collapse under
his anguish.
“My name is Noah,” he
whispered. “Noah Helmond.”
With that one name, Raff
understood why the man had been so shocked by Raff’s interest. Jack and Hank
were both enraged with Noah. They scowled every time they saw him or heard his
name.
“And now you know,” Noah
whispered with such rough acceptance of being the object of hatred that Raff
ached for the man.
And then he was
gone.
ADULT
EXCERPT
“You have beautiful
eyes.”
Noah was envious of the
easy smile that spread across Raff’s mouth at his words. He couldn’t remember
the last time he had smiled or even felt the urge to smile. Happiness was
something he had long ago given up. Maintaining his sanity was all he had
left.
Raff’s hand moved to cuddle
the side of Noah’s face, the touch gentle yet firm. “I’m kind of partial to blue
eyes.”
Noah’s breath hitched as
his throat grew thick. “Yeah?” His gaze dropped to Raff’s luscious lips. God,
the things he wanted to do to those lips. Hell, the things he wanted those lips
to do to him. He could build entire fantasies around them.
“You’re all
wet.”
“Yeah.”
The amusement in Raff’s
voice was laced with something else, something hot and needy and lust filled.
Something that made Noah’s balls clench.
“We should probably get you
out of these wet clothes.”
Noah just nodded. He was
pretty much beyond speech at that point. Raff was staring down at him with such
intensity, almost as if Noah was the most important person in the universe. No
one had ever looked at him like that. No one had ever thought of him like
that.
Seeing what he hoped was
lust in Raff’s eyes, Noah prayed with everything in him and whispered, “Maybe
you could help me with that?”
He would totally understand
if Raff rejected his advances. What man in his right mind would get hooked up
with someone as messed up as he was? Not only did he had a wife, a set of
parents that doubled as Satan’s minions, and a woman out there carrying his
child, but he couldn’t walk ten feet in Cade Creek without getting an angry
glare.
He was the worst prospect
in the history of prospects.
Raff really should
run.
When Raff began to lift the
hem of Noah’s shirt, Noah froze for a second. A quick glance around showed that
no one could really see them. They were high enough above the town and far
enough off the beaten path to be hidden, especially this early in the morning,
and during the rain.
Noah raised his arms and
allowed his shirt to be pulled up and off. Noah’s fingers tingled as he settled
them on the tight muscles of Raff’s chest. Had there ever been a more perfect
specimen of manhood ever built? Raff was the stuff dreams were made of.
Raff’s dark eyes grew
steamy as he reached for the hem of Noah’s pajama bottoms, pushing them down
Noah’s legs. Noah’s chest felt heavy as he stepped out of the soggy material and
finally stood before Raff with no way to hide anything. He felt like he was
baring his soul, not just his body.
When Raff growled and
reached for him, yanking him close, Noah forgot to breath. When the man’s mouth
settled over his in a kiss that curled his toes, Noah forgot to think. And when
Raff’s massive hands began sliding over his wet skin, Noah forgot everything
except the man holding him.
The press of Raff’s wide
muscular body against his back made Noah feel small. The strong thick arms that
encircled him made Noah feel safe and protected. The hard cock pushing against
his ass through the thin material of Raff’s pajama bottoms made him feel
aroused. He really wanted to feel the man’s hard cock against his naked skin.
Hell, he wanted to feel all
of Raff against his naked skin, preferably with Raff just as naked.
Noah groaned.
He was in so much
trouble.
Noah shivered at the feel
of warm breath blowing across his neck. His eyes dropped closed as he tried to
concentrate on the sounds around him, his breathing, the soft patter of rain on
the roof, anything to drown out the feel of Raff’s hand stroking his skin as it
slowly inched down toward his cock.
Noah ached. He needed. He
cried out when that hand finally touched him. His body bucked, arching towards
the hand touching him. His movements were met by a low deep chuckle from the man
torturing him.
Noah’s head fell back
against Raff’s chest when the man reached between them and grabbed his hard
cock. The pressure was unbelievable. It was just strong enough to let Noah know
Raff’s hand was there but light enough to keep him just on the edge of an
orgasm.
It was pure
torture.
Noah’s mouth dropped open
as nearly silent whimpers of need broke free. Raff had one hand on Noah’s chest,
gently pinching and tugging at his nipples. The other hand stroked Noah’s
cock.
His body hummed with
arousal.
“Please,” Noah pleaded, not
really sure what he was begging for but knowing he needed something
more.
“What do you need,
baby?”
“Touch me,” Noah begged as
he grabbed onto Raff’s hips to ground himself. “Please, touch
me.”
Noah’s plea was instantly
answered. Raff wrapped his hand back around Noah’s cock and stroked him. His
other hand caressed Noah’s chest, moving back and forth between his nipples to
play with them both. Raff’s lips moved from Noah’s ear to his neck, licking a
path around to the edge of Noah’s jaw.
Noah’s body throbbed when
Raff grabbed a fistful of his hair and angled his head up. When Raff’s mouth
covered his, Noah felt all of the air in his lungs escape, leaving him
breathless and wanting. The feel of Raff’s tongue brushing against his sent Noah
into a tailspin of desire.
He dug his fingers into the
hard thick muscles of Raff’s hips as the pressure building in his balls exploded
out the top of his cock. Noah’s groan of completion was loud in the silence
surrounding them as he covered Raff’s hand with white pearly
seed.
“That’s it, baby,” Raff
murmured against Noah’s lips. “Give it all to me.”
